Fire-alarm and sprinkler attachment.



No. 814,781. PATENTED MAR. 13, 1906:

I J. HARTLEY. FIRE ALARM AND SPRINKLER ATTACHMENT APLPLIOLTION TILEDJUNE 9,1905.

ating parts.

UNITED STATES PATEN OFFICE.

FIRE-ALARM AND SPRINKLER ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 13, 1906.

Application filed June 9, 1905, Serial No. 264,384.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES HARTLEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inFire-Alarms and Sprinkler Attachments, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in fire-alarms andsprinkler attachment, and has for its object to provide a device to beattached to the ceiling waterpipes of a sprinkler system, the deviceconsisting of a valve closing. the nozzle of the sprinkler-pipe, saidvalve'being held upon its seat by means of a flexible substance whichwill fuse at a certain temperature, allow the valve to be moved from itsseat, and at the same time an electric contact will be made, sounding analarm; and a further object of my invention is to connect with thedevice a preliminary alarm consisting of two electrical contactsnormally held out of contact with one another by a fusible substanceadapted to fuse at a lower temperature than the fuse of the sprinklerarrangement.

With these ends in view this invention consists in the detailsofconstruction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth andthen specifically designated by the claims.

In order that thoseskilled in the art to which this invention appertainsmay understand how to make and use the same, the construction andoperation will now be described. in detail, referring to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in whichFigure 1 is a side elevation of my attachment, portions of the samebeing broken away and shown in section to better illustrate the interiorconstruction Fig. 2, an end elevation of the device, portions beingbroken away and shown in section; Fig. 3, a plan view of the frame ofthe device.

A represents a frame which may be of any suitable shape or design tosupport the oper Threaded in the lower portion of this frame is a plugB, having an opening formed therethrough. This block is adapted to bethreaded into the water-pipe sprinkler C of the sprinkler system. Theupper end of the plug B is ground to form a valve-seat. D is a valvenormally pressing downward upon the seat. The valve-stem E of said.valve eX- tends upward through the frame, the upper end of said stemcoming in contact with an arm F, which arm is normally secured to afuse-block G by a fusible substance H. The block G has a stem passingdownward through the frame, which stem is threaded, and nuts G arethreaded upon said stem upon each side of the frame, so that the block Gcan be adjusted so that the valve-disk D can always be held tightly uponits seat. The valve-stem E is threaded through a portion of its length,and a disk I is threaded upon this threaded portion, and between thedisk I and the frame A is interposed a spring J, tending to force thevalvedisk D from off its seat. This spring is also placed here to aidthe fuse in breaking, and by so doing the fuse may be made to breakwithin a given variation of temperatures below the actual fusingtemperature of the fusible substance. K is a wheel provided with anumber of wings, said wheel being journaled loosely upon the valvestemjust above the valve-disk. Thus it will be seen that when thetemperature of the arm in which the device is located. reaches apredetermined point the fusible substance H will fuse, thus allowing thearm F to be separated from the block G, and then the valvedisk D will beraised by the spring J together with the water-pressure within the pipe,and the water will then issue from the plug B and striking the wingedwheel K will revolve said wheel, which will cause the water to be spreadover a larger area.

In order to sound an alarm at the same time as the sprinkler isreleased, I provide a contact-point L, secured to the frame, butinsulated therefrom, directly over the disk I, and when the valve israised the disk I will be forced against the contact-point L, and as awire extends from the frame to a battery M and from the other terminalof the battery through an electric signal back to the contact L acircuit will be established which will give a signal at any placedesired and notify the authorities that the sprinkler arrangement hasbeen released at a certain point in the building. I

It has been found desirable to provide a preliminary alarm to be soundedin advance of the release of the sprinkler, and this alarm is designedto be sounded when a small fire has started in the room or thetemperature of the room has increased by any cause whatsoever to adangerous point, but the heat not being sufficient to release thesprinkler. Thus the preliminary alarm will notify the authorities that afire has started in said room or the room is becoming overheated, andtherefore will enable them to either put the fire out or reduce thetemperature of the room to a normal degree without the sprinkler beingre has a stem Q passing through the same. Said stem Q is threaded andhas a nut threaded upon said stem upon each side of the ear. Said stemand nuts are insulated from the frame by suitable insulation. Upon theupper end of the stem Q is located a block R, and the height of thisblock may be regulated by means of the nuts threaded upon the stem S isa rod which is adapted to be slipped into the ear P, said ear P beingslotted to receive the same. The rod S is insulated from the frame byany suitable insulation, and upon the lower end of the rod S is secureda head S, and the head S and block R are normally secured together byfusible substance T.

U represents binding-nuts threaded upon the upper end of the rod S, andbetween the binding U and the ear P is interposed a spring V, whichtends to force the rod S upward. A are is connected to the rod S bymeans of the binding-nuts U, and this wire passes through an electricsignal to one terminal of the battery M and then to the frame, so thatwhen the fusible substance T is fused and the rod S is raised by meansof the spring V the head S will come in contact with the under side ofthe ear P of the frame and establish a circuit, sounding the alarm.

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact construction hereshown, as slight modifications could be made without departing from thespirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and usefulis 1. In a device of the character described, a framework, a tubularplug carried by said framework, the lower end of said plug adapted to bethreaded into a water-pipe, a valvedisk normally closing the upper endof said plug, a valve-stem extending upward from the valve-disk throughthe framework, an adjustable block secured to the frame, an arm adaptedto come in contact with the upper end of the valve-stem and hold thevalve upon its seat, fusible substance cementing the arm to theadjustable block, a spring adapted to force the valve from oil its seat,a winged wheel ournaled loosely upon the valve-stem above the valve-diskand adapted to be revolved by the flow of water, a contact-point securedto but insulated from the frame, an adjustable extension carried by thevalve-stem adapted to come in contact with the contact-point when thevalve is raised, a battery, an electric signal, a wire leading from theframe to the insulated contact-point and including in the circuit thebattery and the signal, and means for sounding an alarm preliminary tothe fusing of the fusible substance controlling the sprinklerattachment, as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a device of the character described, a framework, a tubular plugcarried by said framework, the lower end of said plug adapted to extendinto a water-pipe, a valve-disk normally fitted to close the upper endof said plug, a spring tending to force the valve-disk off its seat,fusible substance adapted to hold the valve upon its seat, means forsounding an alarm when the valve is removed from its seat, a movablecontact-point, an adjustable block secured to the frame but insulatedtherefrom, fusible substance cementing the contact-point and blocktogether and holding the contact away from the frame, a spring tendingto force the contact against the frame, said fusible substance adaptedto fuse at a lower temperature than the fusible substance controllingthe valve, and means for sounding an alarm when the movablecontact-point comes in contact with the frame, as and for the purposespecified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES HARTLEY.

WVitnesses:

JABEZ V. THOMSON, JAMES S. HAMILTON.

